Where The Future May Find Us
by CptBauman
Summary: When another version of Future Natsu and Lucy turn up at the guild, how will they hide their relationship from their younger selves? ONE-SHOT


**_When another version of Future Natsu and Lucy turn up at the guild, how will they hide their relationship from their younger selves?_**

* * *

Lucy Heartfilia was on a role. For the past two days, the girl had been hauled up in her quiet Magnolia apartment, busy at her desk. The pen was in constant motion, scratching along the parchment as thoughts translated into words on the page. Nothing could distract her from her hot streak of ideas."

'CRASH!'

...Well, almost nothing. Lucy didn't need to turn away from her writing to know who'd caused the sudden racket downstairs. She'd locked her bedroom window, after all. She didn't want a certain hot headed dragon slayer bursting through his usual entrance and disturbing her. But of course it wouldn't take long for him to find another way in to tear his way through her kitchen like a reckless pink tornado.

The noises quietened as Lucy's attention momentarily pulled her away from her writing to notice the slow footsteps coming up the stairs outside her bedroom door. She already knew there was no need to panic.

"Hey, Luce." He spoke as he entered the room, letting the door lazily swing shut behind him as he walked closer to the girl who still hadn't moved from her semi-permanent place at the desk. He placed a warm hand on her shoulder, leaning down to distract the focused celestial mage with a swift kiss.

This certainly did distract her. Whilst Lucy certainly held feelings for the dragon slayer beyond those of teammates, she'd never even considered acting on these feelings. The two had never established any potential relationship. Hell, he'd never even hinted towards wanted anything of the sort.

She sat there, frozen in her seat. "N- Natsu?..."

"Yeah, Babe?" His hand finally left her shoulder, as if his actions were nothing less than a natural series of events practically routine to him.

"'Babe?' What the hell, Natsu?!" Distracted wasn't even close to how far writing was from her mind right now. She stood up, turning to face her partner, moments away from slapping him so hard that he would end up in Edolas.

"Woah, Lucy. Calm down. You're usually fine with me calling you 'Babe'." He held his hands up in surrender, not wanting to face the period-induced hormonal wrath of the angry blonde. She always got like this during her time of her month.

"What are you on about? You've never called me that before. But more importantly, you've never kissed me before!" Her face was flushed, blood rushing to her head as she put all her effort into not stammering through her words.

Natsu stared at her, confused. "Lucy, we've been dating since Alvarez. Of course I've kissed you before."

"'Alverez'? What's 'Alvarez'? Natsu, you're not making any sense."

It finally dawned on him… Whilst Natsu could often be considered the densest member of the Guild, he certainly had his moments. "Lucy, What date is it?"

"October 6th. Why?"

"No, I meant year."

"X786. Natsu, What is this about? Are you feeling okay? We can just forget the kiss if you want." The bullet of disappointment she felt was short lived as she watched the dragon slayer gather his thoughts

"No. So you're only eighteen? Holy shit, that explains so much." He mumbled to himself, wringing his hands together as he voiced his thoughts aloud.

"Woah, Natsu. Slow down, please. You're confusing me." She went unheard as he continued his rambling. She watched him pace until he decided to make sense.

"I'm not your Natsu… "

"What?"

"I mean, I am. But I'm just not your Natsu. I'm from the future."

Silence filled the room, and it was his turn to watch [not] his partner visibly think. Her brows furrowed as she glared at the floor, trying to process what in Mavis' name was going on. Surely this was just some elaborate prank that took Natsu barely a thoughtless second to make up… And if it wasn't?...

"So… You're from the future." She spoke quietly, playing along with Natsu's 'game'.

"...Yeah." He ran a hand through his hair. The awkwardness of the earlier kiss finally settling between them. Now that she was properly taking this 'future Natsu' in, the differences were practically screaming at her. This Natsu had way more stubble, as if he'd either given up on shaving frequently or had finally hit puberty. That thought made the celestial mage stiffle a rising giggle. On top of the rough grooming and slightly longer pink locks, this Natsu had a couple more visible scars, and he'd traded his jacket for a shirtless look, showing off his ripped muscles. "For what it's worth, you age well. In fact, you barely change."

"Huh?" The dragon slayer's comment brought her out of her thoughts. Gods, was he trying to make it even more awkward between them? "We should go to the guild. Levy will know what to do." She didn't want to be alone with this Natsu for another second - even if his body was something she could stare at for hours...

"Right…"

"You really haven't changed." Her pink haired partner chuckled beside her as she balanced along the water's edge on their way to the Guildhall.

She smiled as he offered her a hand to balance. She already had her arms out like a plane in order to steady herself. She took it, still aware of the dying awkwardness between them. He was still her partner after all, even if he was from the future. Their was still that mutual bond and trust.

The walk was short enough for it to be just after midday before they reached their destination. The hall was busy thanks to the lunch rush, which meant the small script mage was likely to be there. Walking towards the bar, she could see the very girl she was seeking.

"Levy, hey." She greeted as she sat on the stool beside her. Natsu stood behind her, not quite sure what to do with himself.

"Hey, Lulu." She returned, smiling at the celestial mage. "I haven't seen you here in a while. Is everything okay?"

Lucy laughed at Levy's mother-hen personality. She was always one to ask after others even when there was no cause for concern - like now. "Yeah, I've just been on a hot streak with my writing. But never mind that." She decided to cut to the point. "I need your help with something."

"Oh, sure. Is this something to do with your writing? Or maybe some relationship advice?" She winked at her blonde friend, laughing as Lucy's cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"Did someone say love advice." Mira spoke, butting into their conversation. "Oh, Lucy. Are you finally admitting to some scandalous love affair with Natsu? Where's Cana? I need to cash in my bet before-"

"No, no! Mira, calm down!" Lucy interrupted, stopping the barmaid in her tracks. "No, Natsu and I are not dating." She said through gritted teeth, annoyed at her two friends for jumping the gun and assuming certain things about her totally non-existent love life. "But it does involve him. Well, a future version of him anyway."

"Lucy, what are you on about? What future version? Is this to do with the Grand Magic Games?" Levy queried, more confused than intrigued.

"Hi." A rough voice cut in behind them the two girls sat at the bar. [Future] Natsu stepped forward from his uncomfortable statue-like position, neck-scruff and all very visible. "I'm not your Natsu. At least not yet, anyway."

"Oh…" Levy muttered subconsciously.

"So we need your help to get him back." Lucy spoke, hoping to gain the script mage's attention. "I was hoping you knew some book or spell that would be of some use."

"U-um. I should do…" The shock on the smaller girl's face was evident, the sight of the 'new and questionably improved' Natsu being too much to process all at once. "A-and where's our Natsu? I haven't seen him all day."

"HEYOOO!!" The Guild doors burst open to reveal the pink haired mage and his small blue sidekick flying alongside.

"This is going to be fun." Lucy muttered under her breath, only catching Future Natsu's attention. He smirked, catching Lucy's eye. Taking her attention off of her Natsu for that second was all it had taken for him to get into a full on brawl with Gray, neither of whom had noticed the presence of yet another Natsu. "Idiot." She walked forward, annoyed enough to get in the middle of Natsu and Gray mid-attack. Both skidded to a halt, coming face to face with the pissed off blonde.

"H-hey, Lucy. What's up?" Natsu stuttered, nervous from the death stare he was currently receiving from the blonde mage. Certainly a look Erza would be proud of.

"I'd say don't do anything stupid but it seems you've already achieved exactly that. Anyway, don't overreact." Not giving the poor guy a chance to respond, she grabbed his scarf, half-dragging half-walking him towards his counterpart that he was still yet to notice.

"Don't overreact to what, Lucy." He said, finally cutting in as she let go, no longer restricting his airways. He turned to the right where Lucy was now stood next to a guy - A guy that held a very familiar visage. "... What the fuck. Who the hell are you?!" The warning look from his partner stopped him from grabbing the imposter and pounding him until he no longer shared his face.

"He's you… From the future." Lucy answered his questions, already sick of Natsu's confusion.

"Is it really necessary for them to meet? Surely that's even more dangerous. I'm sure the timestream is already messed up as it is." Levy cut in, joining the trio standing near the bar. They now had the attention of the majority of the guild, including Master Makarov.

"Well the fact that Future Natsu is still here is a good sign." Lucy pointed out, earning nods from Levy and Future Natsu.

"Speaking of which, how the hell did you get here?"

Future Natsu answered. "I don't know. I just woke up outside Lucy's apartment, thought she was my Lucy and walked in. I only realised it wasn't her when-"

"He saw my furniture rearranged! His Lucy has her apartment organised differently!" Lucy cut in, silencing Future Natsu before he could reveal anything that would stir a reaction from everyone, possibly wrecking her relationship with her own Natsu. Receiving a confused look from Natsu's future self, she shot a glare back, hoping he wouldn't question further in front of her (technically both of theirs) guildmates. "Natsu, Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Which one?" Future Natsu responded just as Present Natsu answered "Sure."

This made Lucy sigh. "We're gonna need different names for you both. My head already hurts." She put a hand to her temple to emphasise this.

"Our Natsu can be simply 'Natsu'. Future Natsu can be 'Dragneel'. There, problem solved." Levy said, thoroughly enjoying the current scenario that may as well have come out of one of her's and Lucy's Sci-fi novels.

"Okay well, Dragneel I need to speak to you." She looked round at her guildmates, realising how much of an audience they'd drummed up. "Outside, now."

He followed the younger girl out of the guildhall. He'd expected her to stop there but she kept walking. Only once they'd reached the park did she stop, crossing her arms and staring him down. "What?" He spoke, half-scared that she was about to murder him in the silence of the Monday afternoon. They were alone besides all of the critters and bugs around the Park, which wasn't unusual for the weekday.

"You idiot! Natsu and I aren't together! You can't mess up the timeline. It's bad enough that I already know about you and me in the future!" She'd developed a habit of not letting him speak during their conversations. She started pacing in front of him, running a hand through her bangs in stress, no longer addressing him. "Levy was right, I never should have let you two meet. Great move, Lucy. Going for the 'Wreaking the entirety of time and space' award are you?"

"Woah, Lucy, Lucy. Calm down. I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking, okay?" He intercepted her pacing by standing in her way and grabbing her arms. Facing the shorter girl, he smoothed her hair down, brushing it gently away from her face and tucking the loose strands behind her ear. His hand caught her jaw, stroking his thumb along her cheek. It seemed to relax her.

She offered him a small smile before speaking. "No, it's okay. I'm just stressed, I guess. One of you is enough to deal with." She giggled, looking up as he pouted.

"Why'd we go all this way? You could have done this freak out outside the Guildhall."

"I didn't want my Natsu hearing. Or Gajeel for that matter, Mavis knows he'd rat us out if he heard." She stepped out of his hold, starting towards the Guild.

"Your Natsu', eh?" He teased, nudging her and smirking as she returned a partial laugh.

"Shut up." She switched her small laugh for a glare but couldn't hold back a smile at their shared secret. The fact that her and Natsu would be together in the near future excited her. But she wasn't going to enquire as to what 'Alvarez' meant.

"Hey, Guys." Mira welcomed Lucy and 'Dragneel' as they walked towards the bar and took a seat side-by-side.

They returned her greeting, being joined by Natsu as he took a seat on Lucy's left. Just as the three got into a comfortable conversation, the Guild Doors burst open for the second time that day. A short-haired blonde figure ran in, frantically looking around.

"Lucy!" Dragneel shouted, catching her attention. The woman smiled, welcoming his embrace as he ran to pick her up, swinging her round, ignoring their company. He put her down, still not letting her go though. He held his forehead to hers as they both took a minute to catch their breath as they'd lost it during the excitement. "How are you here?! I don't even know how I got here!"

"Levy sent me back. We'd realised where you'd gone thanks to the magic traces left in your house. Phantom Lord are back and this time they've bought stronger magic. They managed to send you back in time to here." She smiled into his palms as he held her cheeks, glad to have each other back.

"Holy shit, are you okay?! What do those bastards want with you this time?" He was ready to beat the shit out of the people threatening his Luce.

"No, no. Natsu, it's not exactly me this time." She pressed her own hand to this, stroking it in order to calm the dragon slayer down. "They want their revenge on Fairy Tail. 'Built up some kind of vendetta against us all."

"So you're okay? They didn't touch you, did they?!" He leaned away, stroking his hands along her arms, checking for injuries.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Natsu. I was more worried about you. We need you back home." She stepped back, addressing her younger self currently stood stunned a couple metres away. "I need to speak to your Levy. I had a spell to get me here, but it needs some modification if Natsu and I are gonna get back to our time."

"Uh, um. Yeah, of course." Present Lucy stuttered, still in shock at seeing yet another version of her future self. This one seemed more alive though. "She's in the library. I assume you still know where that is."

"Yeah, 'course." The older woman spoke, brushing the younger blonde off. This action left the remaining group confused. The remaining Lucy just stared at Dragneel with a raised eyebrow.

"Um, she's just eager to get back home." Dragneel excused his Lucy's actions, shooting their younger counterparts an apologetic look.

It had been three days since Dragneel and Heartfilia (As they were now known amongst the Guild) had arrived and for the entirety of those three days, Levy and Heartfilia had been hauled up in the Library, trying to work out some alternate translation of the spell that would get the Partners back to their time.

After seventy-two hours of non-stop candle burning, Dragneel and Gajeel had dragged their respective girlfriends out of the Guild's library to grab a full meal and some rest, as opposed to their five minute snack breaks and twenty minute cat-naps. The arrangement was that Heartfilia would spend the night on her younger self's couch. When Lucy had offered her place up, she hadn't anticipated how much the older pair would object to being apart. On top of that, she hadn't realised just how awkward it was between her and the older woman.

The two were now in her - their? - bedroom, both with their backs to each other as they changed into PJs. Heartfilia felt comfortable enough to waltz around the room in no less than her bra and thong - an unmatching set, unlike what Lucy usually opted for. Normally, Lucy would have no problem doing just the same in her own home, but the almost hostile energy between them put her off letting herself loose. Instead, she chose to turn her back whilst she changed. She slipped off her top, exchanging it for her silk camisole. She turned to walk towards the clothes hamper near the bathroom door but stopped as her eyes met the back of the woman leaning over the coffee table, folding up her clothes. She'd already slipped into some borrowed pyjama bottoms but her back was fully exposed, aside from the black and lime green sports bra, something Lucy never usually found herself wearing - she always went for lace.

But the bra wasn't what caught Lucy's attention. The older woman's shoulders were left cold and open, but what covered the left one was what looked like scars. Marks that looked like claws had dragged down her back, dragging the fragile flesh and ripping it away. The scars looked not exactly fresh, but they were certainly prominent to have been a recent affliction. Maybe a year or two old?

"Holy shit." The words just slipped out of her mouth before she could stop them. She hadn't even meant to stare. Her muttered words were just loud enough to get Heartfilia's attention, turning round to face the stunned girl. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's fine. You wondering what the scars are?" Her older self showed no surprise at her reaction. Maybe she'd had a similar reaction when she'd first seen her scars. Lucy nodded, not wanting to cross any further lines. Her older self seemed easier to piss off for some reason. "I got them fighting E.N.D."

"E.N.D? I didn't know he was real."

"You should have learnt by now that a lot of those old legends are real. Especially the ones concerning Zeref." Heartfilia returned to her folding, mumbling her next sentence. "Sorry. My Natsu told me to be nicer to you. I didn't mean to-"

"You don't need to apologise-"

"You can't lie to me. I'm you."

"Right." Lucy sighed, already fed up with having someone knowing practically her every thought. It felt exhausting, she was almost literally in her own head. "I am curious, though. Why are you so… I dunno, cold?"

The older woman stood there, her thoughts consisting of what would be the right thing to say. The golden opportunity to go back and literally talk some sense into her younger self. "I think I hate myself more… There are some choices I wish I'd made and some I wish I hadn't. The fact that you're going to make them just pisses me off, I guess."

"Yeah, I get it. You already know this, but I always wish I'd left home sooner."

Heartfilia nodded her head, continuing the thought. "We couldn't have known how bad his drinking was, though. We couldn't have known he'd-"

"-Hit us. Yeah, I know." Lucy interrupted, still pissed at the thought. Unlike how her future self evidently had, Lucy had never moved on from what her father put her though as a child. Especially with what he'd done to her Guildmates.

This earned a laugh from her older self. "I forget how stubborn I can be." Following their little discussion, a few minutes silence settled between them as they settled into their beds for the night. "G'Night, Lucy."

"Night..."

Lucy startled awake, a sudden scream wrenching her from her deep sleep. Shuffling sounds could be heard across the room and the screams continued, more muffled but still loud and present. It took her a second to adjust to the room around her, the dark obscuring her view of objects in front of her as she made her way towards the noise. It was clear who the screams were coming from.

She sat on the edge of the sofa where the restless woman lay. Sweat matted her shorter hair to her forehead and the spare duvet Heartfilia was using had been kicked off the sofa. "Hey, hey…" Lucy spoke, stroking the hair out of her flushed, warm face. "Wake up, Lucy. You're dreaming." She continued her coaxing until she received a response.

Heartfilia shot up, almost bashing her head against her younger self's. "Holy shit…" She sat there, stunned and wheezing heavily. Realising her breathing was out of whack, she closed her eyes, trying to focus on bringing it to a steady rhythm. "Can you count for me?" She spoke quietly, feeling almost embarrassed to ask.

"S-sure." Lucy responded, caught off guard for a second. She began to count at a steady rhythm, playing with her older self's shorter hair. Heartfilia's hair was cut differently to Lucy's, but she decided she liked the change. Her hair was just as blonde, but it was cut to just above the woman's shoulders. The only weird difference was the amount of split ends Heartfilia had. Lucy could never imagined a future where her hair didn't receive the highest level of maintenance, if she could help it. What in the future was so bad that she'd loose focus on her appearance. On such a trivial thing?

Once her breathing had calmed to levels below concern, Heartfilia turned towards her counterpart. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." She offered a small tired smile in apology, to which Lucy returned the smile, almost an exact reflection.

"There's no apology necessary. You had a bad dream, happens to us all." They let the following silence comfort them both. Neither one felt the urge to grab anymore sleep so they moved to the kitchen to continue their convention. "You gonna tell me what that dream was about? Or am I going to find out the hard way in a couple years?"

"That wouldn't make it any less terrifying, believe me." Heartfilia mumbled into her mug of fresh coffee. "Besides, telling you would mess up the future."

"So it was a memory?" Lucy enquired, attempting to dig up some details before her older self shut her out again.

"Of sorts…" She took a sip from her mug but cringed at how hot the beverage was. "More like a 'what could have been.'"

"Is that why you wanted to stay with Natsu so bad? 'Cause of your night terrors?"

"Yeah… He usually helps." She smiled at the thought of her dragon slayer's attempts to comfort her. All the times he'd sat up with her through the long nights as she talked and ranted, pacing about his bedroom floor. Every time, he would make her a hot cocoa with cinnamon and stroke her hair until sleep caught up to her once again.

"He can sleep here tomorrow, if you want. You guys take the bed."

"Thanks, but I think I'll survive. Besides, Levy and I are almost done with the spell. I shouldn't be here another night." With that the conversation ended, leaving them both to focus on their own thoughts.

Both Lucys had come to the Guild the next day in almost complete silence. They hadn't talked much since their late night discussion. Both were too tired to attempt to, anyway.

Lucy sat at her place at the bar, head against the wood as Natsu stroked a hand up and down her back. She'd already told the dragon slayer about the rough night and he did his best to make sure she wasn't disturbed as she tried to regain her lost hours of sleep.

Heartfilia had made her way to the library as soon as the two had entered the Guildhall at eight in the morning and hadn't left since. Dragneel, on the other hand, had spent his morning down in the main hall, brawling with his younger guild mates. The morning had been rather quiet aside from the occasional chair flying across the room.

Despite the peace, Lucy had found herself gaining little sleep. It didn't help that the girl's hay fever had decided to play a little visit, causing Lucy no less that three coughing fits throughout the morning. She'd been wheezing all day, despite the Autumn season not bringing a high pollen count.

It was just after one in the afternoon when another coughing fit hit the celestial mage. She hadn't been feeling too well the hour prior and her temples held a dull aching. "Are you sure you don't wanna go home?" Natsu queried for what felt like the millionth time.

"I'm fine, Natsu. It's only allergies." She insisted, brushing off the dragon slayer's concern. "Besides, I want to be here in case they need an extra hand getting home."

"C'mon, Luce. I'm sure they'll be fine." It took her a second to process his words. They weren't quite making sense in her head. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak coherently. He got up from his stool, starting towards the doors, but just as he did, her coughing fit hit again, violently enough to almost knock her legs out from underneath her as she stood up. Her chest felt tight and it was as if someone had pulled the air out of her lungs. Her chest ached with anxiety as she couldn't feel the oxygen enter her body as she breathed. Natsu noticed her weak state almost immediately, holding her up as she struggled. "Lucy, What's wrong?!" He had to stop himself from yelling at her in his sudden panic.

She felt too breathless to reply. Her chest was tightening with every passing breath.

"Wendy!" Natsu shouted across the room, not daring to take his eyes off of his collapsing partner. He helped her to the floor, her back to his chest. Wendy had joined them now, examining the blonde's puffy eyes and heaving chest. Just as the sky mage began to speak, she was shoved out of the way by the older Dragneel. He held a small blue device to the suffocating girl, guiding it to her mouth and pressing down on the small silver button atop it.

"Breathe in and then hold your breath, Lucy. That's it." Dragneel spoke calmly, removing the device and shaking it, preparing for another dose. After thirty seconds he guided her to breathe out before asking her if she felt any better. The flushed girl shook her head, her breathes now a little stronger but possibly more shaky. "Natsu, sit her up properly and loosen her clothing. I should have done that to begin with but it's evident she'd having a full-blown attack."

"'Attack?' What are you talking about." Natsu asked, watching as Wendy complied with his older self's instructions, regardless of the fact that they weren't directed at her. He could only watch as Dragneel guided Lucy through another breath of the device. After another thirty seconds, Lucy took her first big breath in what felt like years. The colour began to return to her pale cheeks and they all relaxed, seeing the life return to her features.

"W-what just… What just happened?" Lucy questioned, slightly breathless but recovering from her 'attack'.

"You had an asthma attack?" Dragneel responded, looking at the girl's confused expression. "What, you didn't know?"

"I- I don't have asthma." Lucy argued back, gaining enough autonomy to speak.

"Yeah, you do." Dragneel realised that a further explanation was required in order to satisfy his company. "My Lucy didn't find out until your age, of course. Although, I remember us finding out differently." He filled the trio in on the details as they made their way to the Guild's infirmary. They sat the recovering girl on the closest cot and Wendy took the inhaler from Dragneel, searching the room's supplies for an inhaler cartridge of the same dose as Heartfilia's inhaler. "She and I were on a mission when her first attack hit. No clear warning, just like yours, Lucy. She'd collapsed in the middle of a fight and I thought she'd been hit. By the time I'd finished up with the bandits we'd been sent to take down, she was lying on the ground, wheezing and practically blue. It was a miracle we made it to the town's emergency room in time."

As Wendy handed the celestial mage a new blue inhaler and spacer, she began to explain that the reliever device was only a temporary fix for when an attack hit. She'd either need to get a Doctor in to do a full examination or look at Heartfilia's green inhaler to work out the daily respiratory medication Lucy would need to take. "Why do you have your Lucy's inhaler, Dragneel?" Wendy asked, careful not to slip up on the confusing names.

"I always keep a spare emergency reliever inhaler on me, just in case. Though she never has her spacer on her which pisses me off." Dragneel explained, trying to stop himself from ranting at the Lucy in front of him. His younger self would do that enough for him in the near future.

After ensuring that the attack had fully passed, the group went back into the Guildhall, Natsu fully intending to escort his partner back to her apartment to avoid any further distress for that afternoon. Lucy looked too tired to protest, anyway. The bags under her eyes were more prominent after her attack and she was leaning on him as they walked, not verbal but still asking for his support. In the main hall, Levy and Heartfilia were already stood where Lucy had been lead mere moments ago. Mira-Jane had already filled the two in on the commotion which surprisingly wasn't what summoned them downstairs.

"Lucy, are you alright?!" Levy greeted the celestial mage, pulling her into a gentle hug, careful not to squeeze the girl. "We heard what happened."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking, Levy." Lucy responded as cheerfully as she could, but the exhaustion was setting in fast. "Did you guys make any progress on the spell?"

"We think we've got a working prototype, at least." Heartfilia spoke, drawing the attention of everyone nearby. "I'm down for trying it out, if you guys are."

"Let's go for it." Dragneel interjected. "What's the worst that could happen?"

And so the middle of the room was cleared of furniture and people. All accept the two future-dwellers, who stood side-by-side, Dragneel watching as his partner read aloud the incantation. They hadn't bothered with drawing a magic circle around them. Neither needed to conserve their energy for a future spell and that's all a magic circle could function as in this situation.

"...E il tempo si risveglierà." As Heartfilia finished the time travel spell, the ground began to glow around them and their bodies began to fade and static in between the two times. Heartfilia and Dragneel watched as the reality around them began to shift and glimmer, slowly being replaced with their own, more familiar time. The spell had worked.

Their unexpected entrance in the Guildhall had stirred quite a commotion amongst their Nakama as a crowd of familiar faces gathered around them, buzzing with questions. It was weird. They were no longer 'Dragneel' and 'Heartfilia'. They were just their usual selves. For the first time in days they were able to kiss and touch without have to worry about every eye stalking their every move when they were together. Ignoring the increasing mob surrounding them, Lucy reached up, wrapping her arms around her partner's neck and pressing a chaste kiss to his lips. Either in celebration or desperation for his presence, she wasn't quite sure. Her days of slaving away in the library, looking through every scripture and legend she could in order to get them back home quicker had left her more than lonely without his touch. Pulling back from their impromptu make out session, which had turned many of their Guildmates away, Lucy spoke quietly, only wanting Natsu to hear. "We're home…"

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Hope you enjoyed this one-shot. Don't forget to follow favourite. And please don't hesitate to check out my other works.


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